How to prevent sed command overwriting the original file and output a new file?
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In the UPPER.txt file, I need to substitute APPLE and ORANGE with non-capital apple and orange. I also need to keep the old file UPPER.txt as it was, and a generate a new file lower.txt. I am using the following commands:
sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt
sed 's/ORANGE/orange/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt
But the problem is that after I run the above command UPPER.txt and lower.txt become the same containing non-capital items. I want the UPPER.txt to remain as it was originally.
How can I keep a backup of the original file after using sed?
Since I want to use this command in C++ using system(command) to operate on the files, I would like all the commands to be written in one line then I can pass it as string to system command.
text-processing sed
edited Apr 21 at 23:10
David Foerster
26.1k1361106
asked Apr 21 at 14:47
Sepideha
143
 |Â
show 9 more comments
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
1
In the UPPER.txt file, I need to substitute APPLE and ORANGE with non-capital apple and orange. I also need to keep the old file UPPER.txt as it was, and a generate a new file lower.txt. I am using the following commands:
sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt
sed 's/ORANGE/orange/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt
But the problem is that after I run the above command UPPER.txt and lower.txt become the same containing non-capital items. I want the UPPER.txt to remain as it was originally.
How can I keep a backup of the original file after using sed?
Since I want to use this command in C++ using system(command) to operate on the files, I would like all the commands to be written in one line then I can pass it as string to system command.
text-processing sed
edited Apr 21 at 23:10
David Foerster
26.1k1361106
asked Apr 21 at 14:47
Sepideha
143
1
what you are describing is not the expected behaviour. By defaultseddoes not overwrite the original file; it writes to stdout (hence the result can be redirected using the shell operator>as you showed). Are you showing the exact commands used in your question?
– Zanna
Apr 21 at 14:58
1
@SebastianStark if that were so, the redirection would create an empty file, becausesed -idoesn't print anything to stdout
– Zanna
Apr 21 at 15:15
3
The second command overwriteslowercase.txtand undoes the APPLE change from the first command. You need to chain them.
– PerlDuck
Apr 21 at 15:34
1
@Sepideha Please edit to add the text ofUPPECASE.txtandlowercase.txtbefore and after running eachsedcommand. If they're long, you can make a shorter input file and use that. (You needn't call your input fileUPPECASE.txt, but either way, please do say explicitly what it is called.) Please also runls -l UPPECASE.txt lowercase.txtand include the full output in your question. Although it would be strange to have created an alias, function, or alternate external command to make in-place changes when you runsedwithout-i, please also show the output oftype -a sed.
– Eliah Kagan
Apr 21 at 15:36
2
@GeorgeUdosen I'm not suresedis broken here. The recent edit suggests the problem was what PerlDuck said about the second command undoing the effects of the first. I admit that's inconsistent with some of what the question says, but I still think it's the most likely explanation, based on the information available so far. Sepideha: Is that what you meant when you said the input and output files "become the same containing non-capital items"?
– Eliah Kagan
Apr 21 at 17:16
 |Â
show 9 more comments
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
1
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
1
1
In the UPPER.txt file, I need to substitute APPLE and ORANGE with non-capital apple and orange. I also need to keep the old file UPPER.txt as it was, and a generate a new file lower.txt. I am using the following commands:
sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt
sed 's/ORANGE/orange/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt
But the problem is that after I run the above command UPPER.txt and lower.txt become the same containing non-capital items. I want the UPPER.txt to remain as it was originally.
How can I keep a backup of the original file after using sed?
Since I want to use this command in C++ using system(command) to operate on the files, I would like all the commands to be written in one line then I can pass it as string to system command.
text-processing sed
edited Apr 21 at 23:10
David Foerster
26.1k1361106
asked Apr 21 at 14:47
Sepideha
143
In the UPPER.txt file, I need to substitute APPLE and ORANGE with non-capital apple and orange. I also need to keep the old file UPPER.txt as it was, and a generate a new file lower.txt. I am using the following commands:
sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt
sed 's/ORANGE/orange/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt
But the problem is that after I run the above command UPPER.txt and lower.txt become the same containing non-capital items. I want the UPPER.txt to remain as it was originally.
How can I keep a backup of the original file after using sed?
Since I want to use this command in C++ using system(command) to operate on the files, I would like all the commands to be written in one line then I can pass it as string to system command.
text-processing sed
edited Apr 21 at 23:10
David Foerster
26.1k1361106
asked Apr 21 at 14:47
Sepideha
143
edited Apr 21 at 23:10
David Foerster
26.1k1361106
edited Apr 21 at 23:10
David Foerster
26.1k1361106
edited Apr 21 at 23:10
David Foerster
26.1k1361106
26.1k1361106
asked Apr 21 at 14:47
Sepideha
143
asked Apr 21 at 14:47
Sepideha
143
asked Apr 21 at 14:47
Sepideha
143
143
1
what you are describing is not the expected behaviour. By defaultseddoes not overwrite the original file; it writes to stdout (hence the result can be redirected using the shell operator>as you showed). Are you showing the exact commands used in your question?
– Zanna
Apr 21 at 14:58
1
@SebastianStark if that were so, the redirection would create an empty file, becausesed -idoesn't print anything to stdout
– Zanna
Apr 21 at 15:15
3
The second command overwriteslowercase.txtand undoes the APPLE change from the first command. You need to chain them.
– PerlDuck
Apr 21 at 15:34
1
@Sepideha Please edit to add the text ofUPPECASE.txtandlowercase.txtbefore and after running eachsedcommand. If they're long, you can make a shorter input file and use that. (You needn't call your input fileUPPECASE.txt, but either way, please do say explicitly what it is called.) Please also runls -l UPPECASE.txt lowercase.txtand include the full output in your question. Although it would be strange to have created an alias, function, or alternate external command to make in-place changes when you runsedwithout-i, please also show the output oftype -a sed.
– Eliah Kagan
Apr 21 at 15:36
2
@GeorgeUdosen I'm not suresedis broken here. The recent edit suggests the problem was what PerlDuck said about the second command undoing the effects of the first. I admit that's inconsistent with some of what the question says, but I still think it's the most likely explanation, based on the information available so far. Sepideha: Is that what you meant when you said the input and output files "become the same containing non-capital items"?
– Eliah Kagan
Apr 21 at 17:16
 |Â
show 9 more comments
1
what you are describing is not the expected behaviour. By defaultseddoes not overwrite the original file; it writes to stdout (hence the result can be redirected using the shell operator>as you showed). Are you showing the exact commands used in your question?
– Zanna
Apr 21 at 14:58
1
@SebastianStark if that were so, the redirection would create an empty file, becausesed -idoesn't print anything to stdout
– Zanna
Apr 21 at 15:15
3
The second command overwriteslowercase.txtand undoes the APPLE change from the first command. You need to chain them.
– PerlDuck
Apr 21 at 15:34
1
@Sepideha Please edit to add the text ofUPPECASE.txtandlowercase.txtbefore and after running eachsedcommand. If they're long, you can make a shorter input file and use that. (You needn't call your input fileUPPECASE.txt, but either way, please do say explicitly what it is called.) Please also runls -l UPPECASE.txt lowercase.txtand include the full output in your question. Although it would be strange to have created an alias, function, or alternate external command to make in-place changes when you runsedwithout-i, please also show the output oftype -a sed.
– Eliah Kagan
Apr 21 at 15:36
2
@GeorgeUdosen I'm not suresedis broken here. The recent edit suggests the problem was what PerlDuck said about the second command undoing the effects of the first. I admit that's inconsistent with some of what the question says, but I still think it's the most likely explanation, based on the information available so far. Sepideha: Is that what you meant when you said the input and output files "become the same containing non-capital items"?
– Eliah Kagan
Apr 21 at 17:16
1
1
what you are describing is not the expected behaviour. By default
sed does not overwrite the original file; it writes to stdout (hence the result can be redirected using the shell operator > as you showed). Are you showing the exact commands used in your question?– Zanna
Apr 21 at 14:58
what you are describing is not the expected behaviour. By default
sed does not overwrite the original file; it writes to stdout (hence the result can be redirected using the shell operator > as you showed). Are you showing the exact commands used in your question?– Zanna
Apr 21 at 14:58
1
1
@SebastianStark if that were so, the redirection would create an empty file, because
sed -i doesn't print anything to stdout– Zanna
Apr 21 at 15:15
@SebastianStark if that were so, the redirection would create an empty file, because
sed -i doesn't print anything to stdout– Zanna
Apr 21 at 15:15
3
3
The second command overwrites
lowercase.txt and undoes the APPLE change from the first command. You need to chain them.– PerlDuck
Apr 21 at 15:34
The second command overwrites
lowercase.txt and undoes the APPLE change from the first command. You need to chain them.– PerlDuck
Apr 21 at 15:34
1
1
@Sepideha Please edit to add the text of
UPPECASE.txt and lowercase.txt before and after running each sed command. If they're long, you can make a shorter input file and use that. (You needn't call your input file UPPECASE.txt, but either way, please do say explicitly what it is called.) Please also run ls -l UPPECASE.txt lowercase.txt and include the full output in your question. Although it would be strange to have created an alias, function, or alternate external command to make in-place changes when you run sed without -i, please also show the output of type -a sed.– Eliah Kagan
Apr 21 at 15:36
@Sepideha Please edit to add the text of
UPPECASE.txt and lowercase.txt before and after running each sed command. If they're long, you can make a shorter input file and use that. (You needn't call your input file UPPECASE.txt, but either way, please do say explicitly what it is called.) Please also run ls -l UPPECASE.txt lowercase.txt and include the full output in your question. Although it would be strange to have created an alias, function, or alternate external command to make in-place changes when you run sed without -i, please also show the output of type -a sed.– Eliah Kagan
Apr 21 at 15:36
2
2
@GeorgeUdosen I'm not sure
sed is broken here. The recent edit suggests the problem was what PerlDuck said about the second command undoing the effects of the first. I admit that's inconsistent with some of what the question says, but I still think it's the most likely explanation, based on the information available so far. Sepideha: Is that what you meant when you said the input and output files "become the same containing non-capital items"?– Eliah Kagan
Apr 21 at 17:16
@GeorgeUdosen I'm not sure
sed is broken here. The recent edit suggests the problem was what PerlDuck said about the second command undoing the effects of the first. I admit that's inconsistent with some of what the question says, but I still think it's the most likely explanation, based on the information available so far. Sepideha: Is that what you meant when you said the input and output files "become the same containing non-capital items"?– Eliah Kagan
Apr 21 at 17:16
 |Â
show 9 more comments
2 Answers
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The command you mentioned sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt shouldn't overwrite the original UPPER.txt, because sed's default behavior is to write to lower.txt. There's something else you've done that may have overwritten the original file. sed doesn't touch the original file unless you provide -i flag. For your purposes, I'd suggest first making a backup of the original file, aka just copy it.
On a side note, please be aware that system() call is kinda evil and shouldn't be used,
answered Apr 21 at 17:15
Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
64.9k9129282
Thanks for the answer and warning about system(). Which one is more efficient in terms of runtime and memory? 1)first making a backup and running sed- or 2) my solution in EDIT section: running sed and deleting the temp file?
– Sepideha
Apr 21 at 19:22
@Sepideha Your solution uses 3 commands. In shell, I would dosed 's/ORANGE/orrange/g; s/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt. This is just one command, one single process, and redirects shell output to another file.UPPER.txtwon't be touched. You of course can do backup as simply as copying the file, that's two commands:cp UPPER.txt UPPER.bak; sed 's/ORANGE/orrange/g; s/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt. But if we're going to avoidsystem(), then ideal solution would be to capture output from C++ and output to new file (i.e., avoid shell and>operator).
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 21 at 19:29
@ Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy Thanks for suggesting one-command to do all the job! great help. I am not sure how to avoid system() in this case. You mean first opening UPPER.txt file using c++ ifstream and after processing the text, useing ofstream to write on lower.txt file/buffer?
– Sepideha
Apr 21 at 19:47
@Sepideha Yep, that. You can usepopento avoidsystemSee this example with running a subprocess viapopenand capturing output :stackoverflow.com/a/44611186/3701431
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 21 at 21:04
1
@PerlDuck Yep, that's the smartest route. OP will learn that eventually, one step at a time.
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 22 at 8:55
 |Â
show 1 more comment
up vote
2
down vote
I think you have got some misunderstandings.
The sed command only outputs the result in bash. It has nothing to do with original file. The > operator only writes the result to a file.
However, if you want, there is option -i which is able to edit the original file. With -i option comes backup suffix (optional).
$ cat UPPERCASE.txt
APPLE
$ sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPERCASE.txt
apple
$ sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPERCASE.txt > lowercase.txt
$ cat UPPERCASE.txt
APPLE
$ cat lowercase.txt
apple
$ sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' -i[BACKUP] UPPERCASE.txt
$ cat UPPERCASE.txt
apple
$ ls
UPPERCASE.txt UPPERCASE.txt[BACKUP] lowercase.txt
Here, the [BACKUP] file is the original file.
answered Apr 21 at 15:07
Olimjon
1,882423
@Zanna, I understood. Owing to this, In the first and second paragraph I wrote this is misunderstanding. And then I wrote if you want as an alternative.
– Olimjon
Apr 21 at 15:12
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
The command you mentioned sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt shouldn't overwrite the original UPPER.txt, because sed's default behavior is to write to lower.txt. There's something else you've done that may have overwritten the original file. sed doesn't touch the original file unless you provide -i flag. For your purposes, I'd suggest first making a backup of the original file, aka just copy it.
On a side note, please be aware that system() call is kinda evil and shouldn't be used,
answered Apr 21 at 17:15
Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
64.9k9129282
Thanks for the answer and warning about system(). Which one is more efficient in terms of runtime and memory? 1)first making a backup and running sed- or 2) my solution in EDIT section: running sed and deleting the temp file?
– Sepideha
Apr 21 at 19:22
@Sepideha Your solution uses 3 commands. In shell, I would dosed 's/ORANGE/orrange/g; s/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt. This is just one command, one single process, and redirects shell output to another file.UPPER.txtwon't be touched. You of course can do backup as simply as copying the file, that's two commands:cp UPPER.txt UPPER.bak; sed 's/ORANGE/orrange/g; s/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt. But if we're going to avoidsystem(), then ideal solution would be to capture output from C++ and output to new file (i.e., avoid shell and>operator).
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 21 at 19:29
@ Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy Thanks for suggesting one-command to do all the job! great help. I am not sure how to avoid system() in this case. You mean first opening UPPER.txt file using c++ ifstream and after processing the text, useing ofstream to write on lower.txt file/buffer?
– Sepideha
Apr 21 at 19:47
@Sepideha Yep, that. You can usepopento avoidsystemSee this example with running a subprocess viapopenand capturing output :stackoverflow.com/a/44611186/3701431
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 21 at 21:04
1
@PerlDuck Yep, that's the smartest route. OP will learn that eventually, one step at a time.
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 22 at 8:55
 |Â
show 1 more comment
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
The command you mentioned sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt shouldn't overwrite the original UPPER.txt, because sed's default behavior is to write to lower.txt. There's something else you've done that may have overwritten the original file. sed doesn't touch the original file unless you provide -i flag. For your purposes, I'd suggest first making a backup of the original file, aka just copy it.
On a side note, please be aware that system() call is kinda evil and shouldn't be used,
answered Apr 21 at 17:15
Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
64.9k9129282
Thanks for the answer and warning about system(). Which one is more efficient in terms of runtime and memory? 1)first making a backup and running sed- or 2) my solution in EDIT section: running sed and deleting the temp file?
– Sepideha
Apr 21 at 19:22
@Sepideha Your solution uses 3 commands. In shell, I would dosed 's/ORANGE/orrange/g; s/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt. This is just one command, one single process, and redirects shell output to another file.UPPER.txtwon't be touched. You of course can do backup as simply as copying the file, that's two commands:cp UPPER.txt UPPER.bak; sed 's/ORANGE/orrange/g; s/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt. But if we're going to avoidsystem(), then ideal solution would be to capture output from C++ and output to new file (i.e., avoid shell and>operator).
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 21 at 19:29
@ Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy Thanks for suggesting one-command to do all the job! great help. I am not sure how to avoid system() in this case. You mean first opening UPPER.txt file using c++ ifstream and after processing the text, useing ofstream to write on lower.txt file/buffer?
– Sepideha
Apr 21 at 19:47
@Sepideha Yep, that. You can usepopento avoidsystemSee this example with running a subprocess viapopenand capturing output :stackoverflow.com/a/44611186/3701431
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 21 at 21:04
1
@PerlDuck Yep, that's the smartest route. OP will learn that eventually, one step at a time.
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 22 at 8:55
 |Â
show 1 more comment
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
The command you mentioned sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt shouldn't overwrite the original UPPER.txt, because sed's default behavior is to write to lower.txt. There's something else you've done that may have overwritten the original file. sed doesn't touch the original file unless you provide -i flag. For your purposes, I'd suggest first making a backup of the original file, aka just copy it.
On a side note, please be aware that system() call is kinda evil and shouldn't be used,
answered Apr 21 at 17:15
Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
64.9k9129282
The command you mentioned sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt shouldn't overwrite the original UPPER.txt, because sed's default behavior is to write to lower.txt. There's something else you've done that may have overwritten the original file. sed doesn't touch the original file unless you provide -i flag. For your purposes, I'd suggest first making a backup of the original file, aka just copy it.
On a side note, please be aware that system() call is kinda evil and shouldn't be used,
answered Apr 21 at 17:15
Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
64.9k9129282
answered Apr 21 at 17:15
Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
64.9k9129282
answered Apr 21 at 17:15
Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
64.9k9129282
answered Apr 21 at 17:15
Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
64.9k9129282
64.9k9129282
Thanks for the answer and warning about system(). Which one is more efficient in terms of runtime and memory? 1)first making a backup and running sed- or 2) my solution in EDIT section: running sed and deleting the temp file?
– Sepideha
Apr 21 at 19:22
@Sepideha Your solution uses 3 commands. In shell, I would dosed 's/ORANGE/orrange/g; s/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt. This is just one command, one single process, and redirects shell output to another file.UPPER.txtwon't be touched. You of course can do backup as simply as copying the file, that's two commands:cp UPPER.txt UPPER.bak; sed 's/ORANGE/orrange/g; s/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt. But if we're going to avoidsystem(), then ideal solution would be to capture output from C++ and output to new file (i.e., avoid shell and>operator).
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 21 at 19:29
@ Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy Thanks for suggesting one-command to do all the job! great help. I am not sure how to avoid system() in this case. You mean first opening UPPER.txt file using c++ ifstream and after processing the text, useing ofstream to write on lower.txt file/buffer?
– Sepideha
Apr 21 at 19:47
@Sepideha Yep, that. You can usepopento avoidsystemSee this example with running a subprocess viapopenand capturing output :stackoverflow.com/a/44611186/3701431
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 21 at 21:04
1
@PerlDuck Yep, that's the smartest route. OP will learn that eventually, one step at a time.
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 22 at 8:55
 |Â
show 1 more comment
Thanks for the answer and warning about system(). Which one is more efficient in terms of runtime and memory? 1)first making a backup and running sed- or 2) my solution in EDIT section: running sed and deleting the temp file?
– Sepideha
Apr 21 at 19:22
@Sepideha Your solution uses 3 commands. In shell, I would dosed 's/ORANGE/orrange/g; s/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt. This is just one command, one single process, and redirects shell output to another file.UPPER.txtwon't be touched. You of course can do backup as simply as copying the file, that's two commands:cp UPPER.txt UPPER.bak; sed 's/ORANGE/orrange/g; s/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt. But if we're going to avoidsystem(), then ideal solution would be to capture output from C++ and output to new file (i.e., avoid shell and>operator).
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 21 at 19:29
@ Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy Thanks for suggesting one-command to do all the job! great help. I am not sure how to avoid system() in this case. You mean first opening UPPER.txt file using c++ ifstream and after processing the text, useing ofstream to write on lower.txt file/buffer?
– Sepideha
Apr 21 at 19:47
@Sepideha Yep, that. You can usepopento avoidsystemSee this example with running a subprocess viapopenand capturing output :stackoverflow.com/a/44611186/3701431
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 21 at 21:04
1
@PerlDuck Yep, that's the smartest route. OP will learn that eventually, one step at a time.
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 22 at 8:55
Thanks for the answer and warning about system(). Which one is more efficient in terms of runtime and memory? 1)first making a backup and running sed- or 2) my solution in EDIT section: running sed and deleting the temp file?
– Sepideha
Apr 21 at 19:22
Thanks for the answer and warning about system(). Which one is more efficient in terms of runtime and memory? 1)first making a backup and running sed- or 2) my solution in EDIT section: running sed and deleting the temp file?
– Sepideha
Apr 21 at 19:22
@Sepideha Your solution uses 3 commands. In shell, I would do
sed 's/ORANGE/orrange/g; s/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt. This is just one command, one single process, and redirects shell output to another file. UPPER.txt won't be touched. You of course can do backup as simply as copying the file, that's two commands: cp UPPER.txt UPPER.bak; sed 's/ORANGE/orrange/g; s/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt. But if we're going to avoid system(), then ideal solution would be to capture output from C++ and output to new file (i.e., avoid shell and > operator).– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 21 at 19:29
@Sepideha Your solution uses 3 commands. In shell, I would do
sed 's/ORANGE/orrange/g; s/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt. This is just one command, one single process, and redirects shell output to another file. UPPER.txt won't be touched. You of course can do backup as simply as copying the file, that's two commands: cp UPPER.txt UPPER.bak; sed 's/ORANGE/orrange/g; s/APPLE/apple/g' UPPER.txt > lower.txt. But if we're going to avoid system(), then ideal solution would be to capture output from C++ and output to new file (i.e., avoid shell and > operator).– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 21 at 19:29
@ Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy Thanks for suggesting one-command to do all the job! great help. I am not sure how to avoid system() in this case. You mean first opening UPPER.txt file using c++ ifstream and after processing the text, useing ofstream to write on lower.txt file/buffer?
– Sepideha
Apr 21 at 19:47
@ Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy Thanks for suggesting one-command to do all the job! great help. I am not sure how to avoid system() in this case. You mean first opening UPPER.txt file using c++ ifstream and after processing the text, useing ofstream to write on lower.txt file/buffer?
– Sepideha
Apr 21 at 19:47
@Sepideha Yep, that. You can use
popen to avoid system See this example with running a subprocess via popen and capturing output :stackoverflow.com/a/44611186/3701431– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 21 at 21:04
@Sepideha Yep, that. You can use
popen to avoid system See this example with running a subprocess via popen and capturing output :stackoverflow.com/a/44611186/3701431– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 21 at 21:04
1
1
@PerlDuck Yep, that's the smartest route. OP will learn that eventually, one step at a time.
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 22 at 8:55
@PerlDuck Yep, that's the smartest route. OP will learn that eventually, one step at a time.
– Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
Apr 22 at 8:55
 |Â
show 1 more comment
up vote
2
down vote
I think you have got some misunderstandings.
The sed command only outputs the result in bash. It has nothing to do with original file. The > operator only writes the result to a file.
However, if you want, there is option -i which is able to edit the original file. With -i option comes backup suffix (optional).
$ cat UPPERCASE.txt
APPLE
$ sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPERCASE.txt
apple
$ sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPERCASE.txt > lowercase.txt
$ cat UPPERCASE.txt
APPLE
$ cat lowercase.txt
apple
$ sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' -i[BACKUP] UPPERCASE.txt
$ cat UPPERCASE.txt
apple
$ ls
UPPERCASE.txt UPPERCASE.txt[BACKUP] lowercase.txt
Here, the [BACKUP] file is the original file.
answered Apr 21 at 15:07
Olimjon
1,882423
@Zanna, I understood. Owing to this, In the first and second paragraph I wrote this is misunderstanding. And then I wrote if you want as an alternative.
– Olimjon
Apr 21 at 15:12
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
I think you have got some misunderstandings.
The sed command only outputs the result in bash. It has nothing to do with original file. The > operator only writes the result to a file.
However, if you want, there is option -i which is able to edit the original file. With -i option comes backup suffix (optional).
$ cat UPPERCASE.txt
APPLE
$ sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPERCASE.txt
apple
$ sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPERCASE.txt > lowercase.txt
$ cat UPPERCASE.txt
APPLE
$ cat lowercase.txt
apple
$ sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' -i[BACKUP] UPPERCASE.txt
$ cat UPPERCASE.txt
apple
$ ls
UPPERCASE.txt UPPERCASE.txt[BACKUP] lowercase.txt
Here, the [BACKUP] file is the original file.
answered Apr 21 at 15:07
Olimjon
1,882423
@Zanna, I understood. Owing to this, In the first and second paragraph I wrote this is misunderstanding. And then I wrote if you want as an alternative.
– Olimjon
Apr 21 at 15:12
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
I think you have got some misunderstandings.
The sed command only outputs the result in bash. It has nothing to do with original file. The > operator only writes the result to a file.
However, if you want, there is option -i which is able to edit the original file. With -i option comes backup suffix (optional).
$ cat UPPERCASE.txt
APPLE
$ sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPERCASE.txt
apple
$ sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPERCASE.txt > lowercase.txt
$ cat UPPERCASE.txt
APPLE
$ cat lowercase.txt
apple
$ sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' -i[BACKUP] UPPERCASE.txt
$ cat UPPERCASE.txt
apple
$ ls
UPPERCASE.txt UPPERCASE.txt[BACKUP] lowercase.txt
Here, the [BACKUP] file is the original file.
answered Apr 21 at 15:07
Olimjon
1,882423
I think you have got some misunderstandings.
The sed command only outputs the result in bash. It has nothing to do with original file. The > operator only writes the result to a file.
However, if you want, there is option -i which is able to edit the original file. With -i option comes backup suffix (optional).
$ cat UPPERCASE.txt
APPLE
$ sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPERCASE.txt
apple
$ sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' UPPERCASE.txt > lowercase.txt
$ cat UPPERCASE.txt
APPLE
$ cat lowercase.txt
apple
$ sed 's/APPLE/apple/g' -i[BACKUP] UPPERCASE.txt
$ cat UPPERCASE.txt
apple
$ ls
UPPERCASE.txt UPPERCASE.txt[BACKUP] lowercase.txt
Here, the [BACKUP] file is the original file.
answered Apr 21 at 15:07
Olimjon
1,882423
edited Apr 21 at 15:10
answered Apr 21 at 15:07
Olimjon
1,882423
answered Apr 21 at 15:07
Olimjon
1,882423
answered Apr 21 at 15:07
Olimjon
1,882423
1,882423
@Zanna, I understood. Owing to this, In the first and second paragraph I wrote this is misunderstanding. And then I wrote if you want as an alternative.
– Olimjon
Apr 21 at 15:12
add a comment |Â
@Zanna, I understood. Owing to this, In the first and second paragraph I wrote this is misunderstanding. And then I wrote if you want as an alternative.
– Olimjon
Apr 21 at 15:12
@Zanna, I understood. Owing to this, In the first and second paragraph I wrote this is misunderstanding. And then I wrote if you want as an alternative.
– Olimjon
Apr 21 at 15:12
@Zanna, I understood. Owing to this, In the first and second paragraph I wrote this is misunderstanding. And then I wrote if you want as an alternative.
– Olimjon
Apr 21 at 15:12
add a comment |Â
Â
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1
what you are describing is not the expected behaviour. By default
seddoes not overwrite the original file; it writes to stdout (hence the result can be redirected using the shell operator>as you showed). Are you showing the exact commands used in your question?– Zanna
Apr 21 at 14:58
1
@SebastianStark if that were so, the redirection would create an empty file, because
sed -idoesn't print anything to stdout– Zanna
Apr 21 at 15:15
3
The second command overwrites
lowercase.txtand undoes the APPLE change from the first command. You need to chain them.– PerlDuck
Apr 21 at 15:34
1
@Sepideha Please edit to add the text of
UPPECASE.txtandlowercase.txtbefore and after running eachsedcommand. If they're long, you can make a shorter input file and use that. (You needn't call your input fileUPPECASE.txt, but either way, please do say explicitly what it is called.) Please also runls -l UPPECASE.txt lowercase.txtand include the full output in your question. Although it would be strange to have created an alias, function, or alternate external command to make in-place changes when you runsedwithout-i, please also show the output oftype -a sed.– Eliah Kagan
Apr 21 at 15:36
2
@GeorgeUdosen I'm not sure
sedis broken here. The recent edit suggests the problem was what PerlDuck said about the second command undoing the effects of the first. I admit that's inconsistent with some of what the question says, but I still think it's the most likely explanation, based on the information available so far. Sepideha: Is that what you meant when you said the input and output files "become the same containing non-capital items"?– Eliah Kagan
Apr 21 at 17:16